Puerto Rico’s economic situation raises serious questions about the capacity of policymakers to get it under control.
A renewed slide in investor confidence, on the heels of worsening economic and budgetary trends in Puerto Rico, raises the specter that in the absence of enlightened political leadership in San Juan, the U.S. Congress may soon have to establish a federal oversight board to manage the Commonwealth’s grave fiscal situation.
Puerto Rico Gov. Alejandro García-Padilla announced changes to his fiscal team Wednesday that call for shifting Treasury Secretary Melba Acosta to the helm of the Government Development Bank, and naming Juan Zaragoza-Gómez as her successor at the agency. The governor also announced the appointment of Luis Cruz as director of the Office of Management and Budget.
A team of federal officials representing several agencies will come to Puerto Rico next month to help the local government navigate through the economic crisis, prompting more rumblings of the possibility of a receivership for the island.
Puerto Rico Government Development Bank President Javier Ferrer told lawmakers Tuesday that without the necessary measures, the institution he heads will not have the capacity to float petitions by public corporations by summer.
Puerto Rico needs to find alternative ways to govern itself that include all members of society with the single-minded goal of seeking solutions to its overwhelming fiscal and social problems, or risk going down the same path as Detroit, once a thriving city that is now desolate and in a state of emergency.
Puerto Rico Society of Certified Public Accountants President Kenneth Rivera-Robles urged all sectors to set forth a reform program to help the island’s new leaders to get over the current crisis.
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